I am really sorry but this book was just not for me. I DNF at 50% with no idea what was going on and didn't care about characters or story. I have put 1 star here as I have to put something but I won't rate it anywhere else as I didn't finish.

Gripping cosmic horror and a touching portrait of male friendship combined, this will stay with me for a very long time.

There are plenty of twists and turns in this one. I found myself completely hooked and unsuccessful at trying to predict where this would go.

I was instantly hooked by this one. It’s one of those books that pulls you in instantly and becomes completely unputdownable.

II’ve literally devoured this in just one sitting with no regrets. This is an absolute must read.

I loved this book!

This book is an outstanding example of a modern Lovecraftian style story, while still keeping the epic and classic feel or the original stories.

It is beautifully written and kept me enthralled all the way through, it is one of those books that make you want to read just one more chapter.

*Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.*

I read raving reviews about this book, a literary horror that mixes cosmic horror with intimate moments.
The author is a master storyteller that plays with the tones and the nuances.
A great read that I will re-read even if I found it terrifying.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This is one of those books where you are reading and reading, then realise you aren’t even halfway and the story hasn’t changed much since the first chapter. I need substance in a book not something that drags out. Not only that, I found it hard to understand the story within a story concept. I found it hard to follow, especially with the different POVs. With these two aspects I found it very hard to like this book. I think other readers would like this book and it just sadly wasn’t for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Canelo for the digital copy of The Fisherman for reviewing purposes.

What a book! I loved this, as I was reading I just thought to myself - how clever is this; I'm reading a story that is someone telling their story but also they are telling someone else's story midway through too! (If that sounds confusing - don't worry, it isn't it's brilliant!)

I really felt for Abe our main character as he was sharing his story of how he found fishing after losing his wife. What I wasn't expecting was what he found when he went fishing!!

I don't like to give spoilers in my reviews but honestly I do not know how the author came up with the idea for this book, and the intricacies that came within it. Such descriptive passages that make you feel like you're actually there with the characters, I swear I had actual goosebumps on more than one occasion whilst reading. Honestly just brilliant!

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for this ARC

My husband used to be a keen fisherman. He would come home with tales about what happened on his days on the river, the fish he and his friend caught and, of course, the one that got away. Some of those tales were humorous, occasionally a bit strange, but none were as dark and outlandish as the story the narrator of 'The Fisherman' tells in this book. A slow burning yarn of a monstrous horror and also a heartbreaking story about loss and grief. Recommended.

Paul Tremblay blurbs this book saying it's 'Illusory, frightening, and deeply moving...and a modern horror epic."
and given this book won the 2016 Bram Stoker award clearly a lot of horror folk are of a similar opinion. Abe and Dan, two widowers, are fishing buddies who, on their way to a creek Dan is determined to visit, stop at a Diner where they're told a tale of warning about the place. In terms of structure you've got an opening 20% intro to Abe and Dan, 60% telling of an old tale by the Diner Owner, and then 20% of what happens afterwards. (The retelling of the tale is a little more convoluted in terms of who's actually telling it than that which, for me led to a bit of a distancing effect).
The book was undoubtedly well written (and according to the author's after note took over a decade to write), but I can't honestly say that I found it, in Tremblay's words frightening, deeply moving, or 'epic' (although some of the aforementioned imagery certainly could be considered so, the story itself felt less so. In addition, it felt a surprisingly uninvolving tale given the foreshadowing of the two widowers' situation at the book's outset: without giving away spoilers, there was no surprise in the men's actions or the action of the book for me: perhaps there's just another very well known horror book out there that covers similar 'sometimes dead is better' themes so definitively that this felt a little predictable.
But maybe I'm just stuck in my old King/ Straub/ Barker/ ways and judging by the number of rave reviews from its original publication (newly available for the UK) it's just me: I think it's a great thing that a publisher (in this case Canelo) is devoting time and effort to horror literature: it's a much needed boost for a genre that was once afforded whole walls of bookshops and has now sadly become under represented so I look forward to seeing what comes next and am sure many will enjoy this new publication as much as those who enjoyed the original release of it did.

Not sure how I feel about this.

There's horror and darkness but something else that I can't put my finger on and it's that third ingredient that I am not sure if it works.

It's gothic and dark and unsettling but goes into disturbing territory quite early on that I found a bit too disturbing. I got a few surprises with this book and not all of them welcome.

Horror but not one that worked for me. I don't read them much so maybe I am missing out but I wasn't keen on this one.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC to review

3.5 stars!

I've had this on my TBR for a few months and squealed when I saw it in here and hoped I'd be granted an ARC to review.

First off, this was a little slow for me at first but I think I was just so hyped up and excited I was just weirdly expecting it to grip me from the get go.

I love how this is written! This is my first read of John Langan and I will definitely be checking out more work. The only reason this isn't rated higher is purely for how I felt it was dragging/ was slow for me.

But it does pick up abd the story itself is a mixture of all sorts that took me by surprise as It's not what I expected from the synopsis. Stunning writing though!

“The ocean is everywhere. Not only does it stretch to the horizon in all directions, it's under everything as well. I don't mean underground, I mean - it's fundamental, you might say. If what's around us is a picture, then this is what it's drawn on.”

The Fisherman is easily one of the most interesting books I’ve read this year.

It read at times like a fairy story, a cautionary tale, something told to frighten children. It was rich with atmosphere and lush with implications, fabulously descriptive but it never wasted its time. This book left me with a million questions and I’m happy to leave them unanswered. For somebody like me, who loves stories of thalassic things vast and old beyond comprehension, this was a great yarn. The fact that this book also touches on community and grief helps take it from a good story to a valuable one.

A slow burner but it soon picked up. A classic horror story entwined with folk tales becoming urban legend. Atmospheric and chilling in places. This is one catch they have wished they never landed. Almost four stars and so good.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the Arc in return for an honest review.

This has been on my TBR for literal years, so when I had the opportunity to read it on netgalley, I jumped at the chance. Aaaaaaaaaand then I read the first chapter and thought I'd made a terrible mistake... The Fisherman has a very distinct writing style that took a minute for me to get into. It reminded me of Stephen King at his most verbose. And while it was wordy and meandering, once I got into the flow it, John Langan's storytelling is up there with Stephen King at his best.

I'm afraid that I did not finish this. It just dragged too much for me. The writing was good and certainly one could feel for the main character and the loss of his wife. I never got as far as any mysterious, dark, maybe mythical fishing place, even with quite a lot of skip reading. I didn't hate it, just found it tedious. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

Reminiscent of James and Blackwood at their best.

This book, originally published in 2016 and now re-released for the UK market, divides readers. Some love it, others hate it. It's the story of Abe, a widower struggling to find peace in the wake of bereavement. After succumbing to alcoholism, Abe re-discovers his love of fishing, having formed a friendship with co-worker Dan, who recently survived an accident which also left him a widower. Dan suggests visiting Dutchman's Creek, a mysterious fishing spot with a cursed past and which is rumoured to bring back lost loved ones. Ignoring warnings not to, the pair continue on their way and at the creek they encounter the fisherman, "Der Fisher", who is "attempting to catch the primordial Leviathan". They are faced with the choice of helping him and regain their lost loves or defy him and fight for survival.

"The Fisherman" is a slow-burning story, reminiscent of those by MR James or Algernon Blackwood, possibly even Lovecraft, albeit a bit darker and longer. It's beautifully written, dense in places, and disturbing in the way it examines intimately, the motives and emotions of the two characters. It's actually a story within a story, and the way in which the two merge is perhaps where I finally decided I liked the book.

The narrative winds its slow way to a terrifying conclusion, and many readers may well give up before then, but for those who stay the course, this book will probably end up on their bookshelf next to the earlier masters of horror.

Definitely recommended.